SOME SA farms, particularly in the Murraylands district, have reported up to 100 per cent crop losses after the storm on Friday.
The Herrmann family at Bowhill devastatingly lost the majority of their 3965-hectare crop in the space of 30 minutes on Friday, because of “hail the size of golf balls” and severe winds.
David Herrmann said the hail left a carpet about 30 centimetres deep in some parts.
“We were looking at yields unheard of in this district,” he said.
“The damage is possibly in the millions of dollars, but we have hail insurance which will hopefully cover it.
“There are some croppers that only had wind damage, which can’t be insured for, and those with horticulture and vines can’t insure for hail damage.”
The Herrmanns also lost 10 field bins, which knocked down hay stacks and equipment, while one ended up on top of a silo.
“We’ve lost 350 tonnes of grain storage, which my brother-in-law Wayne Jackson, who owns Jacksons Australia silo manufacturers, said we should be able to get 270t repaired, but only in the new year,” he said.
The Herrmanns were also halfway through their 730ha hay program.
“The other 50pc in windrows has suffered hail and rain damage, so we won’t be able to export two-thirds like we would normally,” he said.
Mr Herrmann said the next step would be figuring out what to do with the flattened crops, particularly as they were zero-till croppers.
“What do we do with 2-4t/ha of grain on the ground, which will just keep germinating?” he said.
“This will attract mice and other pests. There is also 5-6t/ha of stubble that hasn’t gone through the straw chopper to break it down.
“We normally inter-row sow into standing stubble, but because it is all laid over, there will be enormous hairpinning problems with our disc seeder unless we can figure out what to do.
“There is spading, but we have soil erosion concerns because of strong winds in our area. Our only option may be to remove some of the stubble by cutting, raking and baling it.”
Mr Herrmann said they were overwhelmed by the support from neighbours, who turned up on Saturday with cranes and tractors to help clean up the debris.
They have also had offers from further afield, including field bins, seed for next year’s crop and a crane to remove the field bin from the silo.
Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell has urged all SA producers affected by the storm to report their damages to the Riverland Storm Recovery Hotline.
- Storm Recovery hotline 0476 834 530.
